Vol. 152, No. 4 — February 21, 2018

Registration

SOR/2018-21 February 12, 2018

CITIZENSHIP ACT

P.C. 2018-128 February 12, 2018

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, pursuant to paragraph 27(1)(b) (see footnote a) of the Citizenship Act (see footnote b), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Citizenship Regulations (Fees for Minor Applicants).

Regulations Amending the Citizenship Regulations (Fees for Minor Applicants)

Amendments

1 Item 1 of the schedule to the Citizenship Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

Item

Column I

Application

Column II

Payable to

Column III

Fee ($)

1

Application for grant of citizenship with respect to a minor child under section 2 of the Regulations

Department of Citizenship and Immigration

100

1.1

Application for grant of citizenship by a person who is 18 years of age or older under section 2 of the Regulations

Department of Citizenship and Immigration

530

1.2

Application for grant of citizenship under section 6, 7 or 9 of the Regulations

Department of Citizenship and Immigration

530

2 The portion of items 2 to 7 of the schedule to the French version of the Regulations in column I is replaced by the following:

Article

Colonne I

Demande

2

Demande d’attribution de la citoyenneté présentée au titre des articles 4, 5 ou 8 du Règlement

3

Demande de répudiation de la citoyenneté présentée au titre de l’article 10 du Règlement

4

Demande de réintégration dans la citoyenneté présentée au titre de l’article 12 du Règlement par un enfant mineur

5

Demande de réintégration dans la citoyenneté présentée au titre de l’article 12 du Règlement par une personne âgée de dix-huit ans ou plus

6

Demande de certificat de citoyenneté présentée au titre de l’article 14 du Règlement

7

Demande de recherche dans les dossiers présentée au titre de l’article 18 du Règlement

Coming into Force

3 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

On June 19, 2017, Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act (AACA), received royal assent. Among other changes, the AACA removed the requirement to be 18 years old for a grant of citizenship under subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act, facilitating the ability of minors to qualify for citizenship on their own behalf. (see footnote 2)

Prior to this legislative amendment, minors generally applied for citizenship concurrently with their permanent resident parent(s) or as children of a Canadian parent under subsection 5(2) of the Citizenship Act. Under the Citizenship Regulations, minors with a Canadian parent or applying for citizenship at the same time as their permanent resident parent(s) under subsection 5(2) are only required to pay a $100 processing fee. However, following the coming into force of the legislative amendment, the Citizenship Regulations continued to specify that individuals applying for citizenship under subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act were required to pay the $530 processing fee which is generally applicable to adult citizenship applicants.

Objectives

The objective of the regulatory amendments is to amend the fee schedule set out in the Citizenship Regulations to align the processing fee for minors applying under subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act with the fee for minors applying under subsection 5(2), such that minor applicants under either subsection pay a $100 fee.

Aligning the application fee for minors regardless of which subsection they apply under will ensure fairness and will facilitate the acquisition of citizenship for minors applying without a Canadian or permanent resident parent.

Description

The regulatory amendments amend the Citizenship Regulations fee schedule to indicate that an application for a grant of citizenship under subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act made by a minor (under 18 years of age) requires payment of a fee of $100, payable to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. Technical amendments also amend items 2 to 7 of the French-language version of the Citizenship Regulations fee schedule to better align the terminology used in the English and French versions of the amended schedule.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to these regulatory amendments, as there are no changes in administrative costs to businesses.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to these regulatory amendments, as they create no costs to small businesses.

Consultation

Following the AACA amendment, parliamentarians and stakeholders highlighted the difference in fees for minors applying for citizenship under different provisions of the Citizenship Act. They noted that while the AACA changes made it easier for minors to apply for citizenship on their own, the $530 fee still posed a barrier to a potentially vulnerable population.

Rationale

Aligning the fee for minors applying under subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act with the fee for minors applying under subsection 5(2) will ensure there is no differential fee for minor citizenship applicants regardless of whether they have a Canadian citizen parent or apply with a permanent resident parent concurrently, or apply on their own behalf. It is anticipated that the costs associated with aligning the fee for minors will be low, arising primarily from implementation activities such as updating manuals, application kits, guidelines and Web pages, making systems changes, and providing training.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

Program delivery instructions and manuals, application kits, guidelines, IT systems and Web pages will be updated.

Contact

Teny Dikranian
Director
Legislation and Program Policy Division
Citizenship Branch
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
180 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1
Telephone: 613-437-5622
Fax: 613-991-2485
Email: IRCC.CITConsultations-ConsultationsCIT.IRCC@cic.gc.ca